| First Author | Zwijnenburg PJ | Year | 2003 |
| Journal | J Neuroimmunol | Volume | 138 |
| Issue | 1-2 | Pages | 31-7 |
| PubMed ID | 12742650 | Mgi Jnum | J:119043 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3701044 | Doi | 10.1016/s0165-5728(03)00088-2 |
| Citation | Zwijnenburg PJ, et al. (2003) Interleukin-18 gene-deficient mice show enhanced defense and reduced inflammation during pneumococcal meningitis. J Neuroimmunol 138(1-2):31-7 |
| abstractText | To determine the role of endogenous interleukin-18 (IL-18) in pneumococcal meningitis, meningitis was induced in IL-18 gene-deficient (IL-18(-/-)) and wild-type (WT) mice by intranasal inoculation of Streptococcus pneumoniae with hyaluronidase. Induction of meningitis resulted in an upregulation of both pro- and mature IL-18 in brain tissue in WT mice. IL-18(-/-) and WT mice were equally susceptible to develop meningitis after intranasal infection, yet IL-18(-/-) mice showed a prolonged survival and a suppressed inflammatory response, as reflected by a less profound inflammatory infiltrate around the meninges and lower concentrations of cytokines and chemokines in brain tissue. These findings suggest that endogenous IL-18 contributes to a detrimental inflammatory response during pneumococcal meningitis and that elimination of IL-18 may improve the outcome of this disease. |
